Personality and life experiences: Sources of feminist consciousness and women's rights activism.

Abstract

Research on activism often does not consider the question of motivation to participate. Instead, it has focused on describing individual personality and life experience correlates or structural variables that contribute to activism. This dissertation hypothesized that group consciousness might mediate the relationship between activism and personality and life experience variables. Specifically, this dissertation tested a theoretically-derived model that assessed the role of feminist consciousness as a mediator between women's rights activism and personality and life experiences. Four questions were asked, three of which were related to evaluating the mediational impact of feminist consciousness: (1) Does feminist consciousness contribute to motivation for participation in women's rights activism? (2) What are the personality and life experience variables that directly contribute to women's rights activism? (3) Does feminist consciousness mediate the relationship between personality and life experiences and women's rights activism? (4) How do different aspects of group membership affect the influence of these variables on feminist consciousness and women's rights activism? The model was tested in two samples of women: 891 abortion rights activists (Activist sample) and 103 educated, midlife, white women (Midlife sample). The model was also tested in 5 subsamples of Activists: young adult activists, midlife activists, lesbian and bisexual activists, activist abuse survivors, and activists of color. The model was supported in the Activist and Midlife samples, and in the young adult and lesbian activist subsamples. Feminist consciousness mediated the relationship between personality and life experiences and activism in several of the samples. Results suggested that the following personality and life experience variables were related to feminist consciousness or women's rights activism: Personality characteristics: scoring higher on cognitive flexibility, historical sensitivity, and extraversion; Personal experiences: higher income and educational levels, exposure to feminism in a formal setting; Social context factors: membership in multiple subordinate groups (e.g., lesbian or bisexual women, women of color, survivors of physical or sexual abuse), and cohort identification for women who were young adults during the Women's Movement.